Broken Iron Clothes

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Yuan Mucheng hadn't seen Jiang Shiqing since that day. He occasionally passed by the Jiangzhai, but he didn't see any movement inside. Although he asked He Xiao where the Huimei Courtyard was, he didn't go there. He only asked He Xiao to knock on the door of the Jiangzhai once. The door, but the person who opened the door was not Xu Guo, and if he asked a few more questions, the person would only say that Jiang Shiqing was not feeling well recently.

If no one could be found, the bet was put on hold.

The end of the year was approaching, and Liu Zhaoyu deliberately avoided the half-month curfew, but it was a pity that the rain did not stop at night until the eve of New Year's Eve.

On New Year's Eve, gongs and drums sounded in the streets and alleys early in the morning, and commoners dressed up as ghosts and played sheng to parade through the streets to drive away Nuo.

When it was almost Shen's time, the ceremony was over, Yuan Mucheng was changing clothes in the house, ready to enter the palace for the New Year's Eve banquet.

Just as he was putting on the leather belt, he spotted He Xiao who was pacing outside the door from the corner of his eye.He Xiao didn't enter the door either, and stood still by the door after the people in the house straightened their clothes and put on hair crowns.

Yuan Mucheng was majestic and solemn like a pine tree, and when he came to the door, he asked He Xiao, "I've been waiting here for so long, what's the matter?"

He Xiao paused for a moment before saying, "Master, this is a letter from Yuzhou."

"I have been in the city for more than three months, and the old man finally thinks of me," Yuan Mucheng said with a happy face, spreading out his palm, "Where is it, look?"

He Xiao bowed his head: "It's gone."

The words were unclear, and Yuan Mucheng's heart was empty, and he asked directly: "What do you mean by disappearing?"

He Xiao said: "The post envoy encountered heavy rain on the way, the horse slipped, and the letter sent by Du Duwang was soaked in water, the words were blurred and the paper was torn."

Yuan Mucheng breathed a sigh of relief, but his chest was immediately filled with boredom.

"Why did the old man's letter get soaked?" Yuan Mucheng asked.

"The lord asked the postman to deliver the warm clothes made by the princess himself. The letter was wrapped in it. When the horse slipped, the postman still carried the battle report and official documents of Yuzhou. It fell into the ditch and was drenched when I picked it up."

"What about the letter?"

Hearing this, He Xiao stretched out his hand from his back and handed over a wad of crumpled thick paper.

Yuan Mucheng picked it up and looked it over carefully, the envelope was open, and the paper inside was good and bad, but the ink was blurred, and some of the words could not be read clearly.

"It takes more than half a month to go back and forth from Yuzhou to Yancheng. If this letter is destroyed, it will be destroyed."

As long as he thinks that Yuan Haoxun entrusted someone to deliver the family letter after calculating the exact date, but it has been soaked into a pile of waste paper before it reaches his hands, he feels a little grievance in his depression.

At this time, the servant came to report: "Second Young Master, the horse is ready and you can enter the palace."

Yuan Mucheng sighed, folded up the paper, and put it in his bosom.

Turning around, he threw his purse and a pair of newly made armguards into He Xiao's hands again, and said, "Look at your armguards are worn out, so you should get new ones for the new year. You don't have to do anything today Come on, bring some good wine and food to the people in the mansion, don't wait for me."

-

On the other side, the table in the Jiang residence has already been covered with fine wine and delicacies.Jiang Yu personally made dumplings with stuffing, filled a big pot and put it on the table. Everyone raised their glasses and drank while enjoying themselves, but Zhong Dingshan almost scolded him all over the place.

"Huai Chuan's health is better. Where can I drink? What's going on with Xu Guo and Ji Dong? Do you think it's time to drink after the new year? There are a few of you, happy new year, drink whatever you want, really What are you doing with Huai Chuan and the two children!"

After finally persuading Zhong Dingshan to come down, firecrackers and fireworks were set off outside alternately, and a warm joy rose in front of the table.After eating to his heart's content, Gu Nanxing took Ji Dong and Xu Guo to hang up a red light in front of the porch, Zhong Dingshan walked around from the backyard, caught someone and asked, "Where's Huaichuan?"

Gu Nanxing jumped off the railing and said, "Mr. Gang and Yu Chuan went to Huimei Courtyard."

"Come on, I wasted no time trying to hand over some New Year's money." As he spoke, Zhong Dingshan waved to Jidong.

"Xiao Jidong, come here." Zhong Dingshan took out a copper coin wrapped in red paper from his pocket, and handed it over, "This is yours, put it away, and sleep soundly by pressing it under the pillow at night."

Ji Dong's small face was reflected vividly under the lamp, she took the red paper and replied with a smile, "Thank you sir!"

Xu Guo at the side leaned forward and asked, "Sir, what's my role?"

Zhong Dingshan glanced at his hands that were full of red paper, and said with a joke: "You have three in your hand, and you are still greedy for Mr.'s."

Xu Guo said: "Sister Ji also has three, don't you give them too?"

Zhong Dingshan stopped teasing him, and took out another red envelope and stuffed it into Xu Guo's hand, saying, "Let's go, go play with your sister Ji."

Seeing the two children rushing to the courtyard to study firecrackers, Zhong Dingshan smiled for a long time with his hands behind his back, only to find that there was another Gu Nanxing staring at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Zhong Dingshan said.

Gu Nanxing said with a smile: "Mr. Yu Chuan gave me a red envelope, how could you leave me behind?"

Zhong Dingshan snorted softly, patted Gu Nanxing's arm, walked down the corridor, and said, "Come here for a drink."

The two leaned back in front of the steps, one holding a jar of wine, one elbow resting on the ground, just watching Xu Guo and Ji Dong playing in the yard.

Gu Nanxing first said: "It's rare for Mr. to lose his temper today."

Zhong Dingshan glanced at him, and said: "I'm happy today, I'm not annoying, don't make it difficult for you."

"How dare I," Gu Nanxing put the wine jar lightly in his hand, and asked, "By the way, sir, will you stay in the city after the next year?"

Zhong Dingshan turned his head to look at him and said, "Why, you despise me as an old man before the end of the year."

Gu Nanxing explained: "No, I'm going to Qinzhou. It's not good for Ji Dong, a little girl, to sleep with me."

"What are you going to Qinzhou for? Shouldn't you be leaving tomorrow?"

"Leave on the second day of junior high school," Gu Nanxing took a deep breath, and said, "Zhongqiu inquired about Huaichuan over there, so it's hard to say until it's confirmed."

"Okay, Xiao Jidong, let me watch." Zhong Dingshan was about to raise the wine jar, but suddenly said a few more words, "Hurry up and come back after you finish your work, don't be short of arms or legs, I even pointed out I'm looking after you and Huai Chuan for the elderly."

Gu Nanxing turned sideways and smiled, "Didn't the sir say that he doesn't expect me to support you in the old age?"

Zhong Dingshan wiped his mouth, crossed his legs and said, "I am an old man who has been alone all my life, and I often go out with Chuan. I have raised you and Huaichuan as sons all these years, can't I count on it?"

Gu Nanxing turned his head and nodded at the two people in the courtyard with his chin, and said, "Aren't Ganqing Xuguo and Ji Dong counted as children?"

Zhong Dingshan put the wine jar on the ground, sat up and argued with him: "You can't figure it out when you get into the wine, right? The two of them and I are grandparents."

Before Gu Nanxing could reply, Ji Dong shouted at the other end: "Master, come and help me set off the firecrackers, I dare not!"

"coming!"

Gu Nanxing got up, patted the hem of his clothes and walked over there.

"Boy Gu—"

Zhong Dingshan suddenly shouted from behind, Gu Nanxing stopped and looked back, only to see Zhong Dingshan raised an altar to respect him, his tone was rare and gentle.

"After returning to the room, look under the pillow, don't say I'm biased."

The two looked at each other and smiled under the night light, their hearts warmed.

-

At this time, the plum blossoms are in full bloom, and the red plum blossoms are dotted on the branches, dipping in the night full of the courtyard to compare with the stars. Occasionally, the petals fall into the mud and emit a faint fragrance.

Jiang Yu put out several jars of wine in Huimei Courtyard: "Last time, Mister brought Tieyi wine from Yuzhou, and secretly brought a few jars here tonight. You, Mr. Lin Meng, must not know."

Jiang Shiqing said with a smile: "Tie Yi's wine is very strong. Mister doesn't like to drink on weekdays, so don't be greedy today."

"It's Chinese New Year, it's not too much to have a sip."

Jiang Yu opened an altar and poured it into a cup. The strong aroma of wine and plum fragrance was entwined and intoxicating.

Jiang Yu sipped the wine, then sighed to Night Breeze: "This Tieyi wine can only be drunk in Yingzhou and Yuzhou. It is a pity that you can only see such a heroic scene in Yuzhou now."

Jiang Shiqing looked down at the wine jar, and said: "Although Yuzhou has a vast area, it is also close to the northern border of Dali. The Xuanhe army has been guarding the border all year round. What they are facing is the cold wind, and what they are complaining about is blood and tears. Among them, Iron Cloth Wine became a consolation."

The aroma of wine lingered on the tip of his nose, and Jiang Yu drank half of the jar, which was a little high.

After a while, he suddenly asked, "Huaichuan, for you, in a country, is the people or the king more important?"

Jiang Shiqing replied: "Naturally, the people are the most important, and the king is the least."

"Then if the emperor is mediocre, and you are a minister, will you protect the emperor or not?"

"If the country is in trouble, it must be to protect the country and the people but not the king."

Jiang Yu put down the wine glass and said seriously, "Huaichuan, do you want to be the emperor?"

Jiang Yu was rarely drunk, but every time he was drunk, he would ask him this question, and Jiang Shiqing gave him the same answer every time.

"Huaichuan doesn't want to." Jiang Shiqing replied.

"Why?"

"Why do you only want to be an assistant minister?"

Jiang Yu raised her sleeve robe, stood up and looked up to the boundless world, and said loudly: "My heart belongs to the mountains and rivers, and I would rather bow my head than be king. In this life, I don't care about winning or losing, but only recognize the king."

Having said that, he turned his head to Jiang Shiqing again, looked at the man and said, "But you are different, you can be a king."

Jiang Shiqing smiled slightly and replied, "I am no different from Mr.

Jiang Yu sighed, smiled and shook her head: "Huai Chuan, you are too similar to that person, but you are too similar..."

-

To put it bluntly, the New Year’s Eve banquet is the royal family’s aristocrats and important officials of the court having fun together. Yuan Mucheng didn’t like this kind of scene at all, plus the family letter. When flattering, he pretended to be drunk and left the table first.

He sat on the horse and walked slowly, his ears were filled with laughter from the streets and alleys, and the wine in his belly dangled with his body, his heart was soaked in it, and he couldn't tell who he was.

Is he the Yuan Mucheng who dared to ride horses in the rivers and lakes as soon as he left home, or the parachutist who was feared by everyone in the battlefield?

In these years in Yuzhou, he has tamed the fiercest horses, drank the strongest wine, and fought the wildest battles. He faced the cruelty of life and death, but when he peeled off the human skin, he turned out to be a lame wolf. Eagle chained.

He is forcing himself to become Yuan Mujie, but no one knows, he is unwilling and unwilling.

He walked alone and depressed for a while, and before he knew it, the horse arrived outside the market. He looked at the place where the lights were not extinguished, and recalled Jiang Qing's lukewarm expression when he went to the market a few days ago , I was really aroused in this way, and I withdrew the horse's head and went in another direction.

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"The people are the most important, the king is the lightest" is changed from "Mencius", the original sentence "The people are the most important, the community is second, and the king is the lightest."